As a child, Marilyn Hugghins helped her parents grow potatoes and vegetables for the family table. She hasn't stopped gardening since.

"I love being able to work in the soil. It's an important part of my heritage and an enjoyable part of life," Hugghins said.

Now retired, Hugghins resides at University Place, a Memorial Hermann independent-living community at 7480 Beechnut. Her apartment feels like home, and she still can garden - growing her favorites, tomatoes and hibiscus.

"Tomatoes are just good summer food," she said. "Hibiscus is beautiful, blooms for one day accomplishing what it was intended to do and starts a new life the next day."

Each apartment at University Place includes a patio or a balcony, depending on which floor the resident chooses. Residents with balconies often have potted plants, while those with patios can have more elaborate planting areas.

Residents who enjoy the outdoors can walk leisurely through the community's manicured grounds, and take pride in the beauty provided by well-established trees and seasonal blooms. For Hugghins, the gardens at University Place helps cultivate friendships.

"I often visit with my neighbors to discuss gardening, rest on the benches and share stories, and keep each other informed of issues," she said. "We also help each other when one is away."

"A lot of seniors had gardens when they were in their homes, and we want them to continue as much as possible with the activities they enjoyed before," said Jeanie Smith, Holly Hall's resident life enrichment coordinator.

Several residents have vegetable and fruit gardens, and volunteered at the Garden Club of Houston's 70th Annual Bulb and Plant Mart, hosted by Holly Hall, October 2012. The community will host the event again this year.

At The Buckingham, 8580 Woodway Drive, the grounds this time of year offer a burst of color - pink, purple, yellow, white - a fresh complement to the community's mature oaks.

"The courtyards look like a spring bouquet," said Cathy Lightfoot, director of sales and marketing at The Buckingham. "Flowers put a smile on your face and that is good for your heart," she said.

To help The Buckingham maintain it's beautiful surroundings, the community's resident garden club and landscape committee meets once a month to walk the property, and make recommendations for maintenance and new plantings.

Mitti Meyers, who lives at The Buckingham with her husband, has chaired the landscape committee for the past two years.

"We rotate the plants three to four times a year depending on the weather we've had," Myers said. "We see if anything needs to be replaced and make sure the landscaper is doing things how we like. We decide what we want to put and where we want to put the plants that are available."

Ed Sechrest, also of The Buckingham, has an affinity for growing herbs and vegetables.

He has been growing his own things to eat for 25 years, and keeps his own garden behind the community's garage.

"Gardening has always been a part of my life, and it's important because it's a good hobby that gets me outdoors and out of the building," he said. "It's great to do it at The Buckingham because I have the space to do it and lots of time to do it."

Like Hugghins of University Place, Sechrest favors tomatoes and spends at least four hours a day, six days a week in his garden where he also grows herbs and other vegetables.

Because of the tomato's productive nature, Sechrest often harvests more than he can eat.

"You get a lot of fruit from a small plant," he said. "I enjoy giving them to friends and neighbors."

Because of his garden, Sechrest has built a rapport with The Buckingham's kitchen staff, with whom he shares his herbs and vegetables for cooking.

"In giving them quite a lot of herbs, I get a little personal benefit. They cook things the way I ask them to," he said.

"I grow some Texas 1015 onions I take to the kitchen, and they make me fried onion rings with them."